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Thursday, September 08, 2011

Apostolic Succession


By W. Hay M. H. Aitken M.A., Canon of Norwich

The fabric of Sacerdotalism rests upon the fundamental assumption that Jesus Christ created certain distinct orders of ministry, and assigned to each order specific prerogatives and functions; that, further, He instituted a quasi-sacramental ordinance—the laying-on of hands, whereby the capacity to exercise these ministrations should be imparted, so that those whom He first called might, by the laying-on of their hands, pass on to others all the ministerial powers that they themselves possessed, these, again, transmitting them to others, and thus maintaining a regular ministerial succession to the end of time. I have called this dogma an assumption, and it seems to me that I am justified in doing so, because there is so little to be found in the New Testament, or even in the earliest Christian literature after the completion of the Canon of the New Testament, that even seems to give the slightest colour to any such conclusions. Our Lord did, indeed, appoint twelve individuals, whom He called Apostles, who were to be with Him, and to share His labours and bear witness to His teaching. It is indisputable that these men held an altogether unique position. No other ministers of a later age could possibly exercise some of the most prominent functions that necessarily belonged to these, as is obvious on the smallest amount of reflection. First, they were to be His travelling companions and assistants, extending the influence of His mission, and in various ways contributing to its success. Second, they were directly commissioned to heal the sick, to cast out devils, and perform other mighty works. Third, they were to be personal witnesses to His character and to the great facts of His career. Fourth, they were to be the repositories of His oral teaching; and their memory of this was to be specially assured by the action of the Holy Ghost, so that they might hand down to others that which they had themselves learned from Christ. Fifth, as their name, implies, they were sent forth to carry the Gospel into the darkened world. They were to be evangelists rather than settled pastors; and all the stories of their settling down as “Bishops” of particular localities are mere traditions of a comparatively late date, and destitute of any historical value. Sixth, they were thus to be the human foundations of the Church, sharing, however, according to St. Paul, this distinction with another order of workers—the prophets of the Christian Church. In St. John's vision of the Holy City, she is described as having twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. Here it is to be observed that the number of those bearing this title in its original and strict sense is limited to twelve, whether that number was made up by the Apostles' choice of St Matthias or by Christ's own choice of St. Paul. Seventh, they were undoubtedly possessed of a certain limited authority in the Church—an authority that naturally flowed from the peculiarities of their office and position, that we have just been considering.

Now, it is clear that if there be such a thing as Apostolical Succession, and Bishops are their successors, they can only be their successors in one point out of seven, i.e., the last. In the other six respects Bishops cannot be the successors of the Apostles.

Before proceeding to consider whether Bishops are even successors of the Apostles in this one respect, and, if so, how far they are so, let us observe that the only other appointment that Our Lord is reported to have made is that of “the Seventy.” These labourers do not appear to have been either Bishops, priests, or deacons, and yet they were commissioned by Our Lord Himself, and it is of them that He says, “He that receiveth you, receiveth Me.” So far, then, was our Lord from instituting directly the three orders of the ministry that now exist that it may be said that He only set apart two classes of functionaries, and there is nothing to show that either of these was identical with any of these three orders. Is this what we should have expected, if, indeed, it be true that the very existence of the Christian Church depends upon the presence of one particular class of officials in her midst? To read more, click here.

For those unfamiliar with the term "Sacerdotalism," it refers to the Medieval Catholic and post-Tridentian Roman Catholic belief that emphasizes the powers of priests as essential mediators between God and humankind. The English Reformers rejects this belief as unscriptural in the sixteenth century. The Oxford Tractarians would reintroduce the belief in the Church of England in the nineteenth century. It is one of a number of unreformed Catholic beliefs held by contemporary Anglo-Catholics.

The Church Association was instituted in 1865. Canon Richard P. Blakeney (1820-1884), vicar of Christ Church, Claughton (near Birkenhead) was the key founder of the Association.

The first Annual Report contains an ‘address’ which presents its raison d’ĂȘtre as follows.

“The present estate of the United Church of England and Ireland is such as to demand the earnest attention and combined efforts of all who would maintain her position as the Established Church of these realms.

“The dangers which threaten her are internal, and arise form two opposite sources. On the one hand, there are public teachers within her Communion, who hold and preach rationalistic doctrines plainly opposed to her Articles and Formularies. On the other hand, there is an increasing section of the clergy who, having for their object the restoration of our Church to the Romish communion, are introducing into her worship vestments and ceremonies repudiated by our Reformers, and which are unauthorised by constitutional usage during the three centuries since the Reformation.

“It is the latter danger which presses at the moment, and the members of the Church may well be asked whether, reflecting with gratitude on the great work of the 16th century, they will tamely give up the pure ritual and liturgy of their Church, handed down by their Protestant forefathers. If they would preserve these, they must lose no time in exposing the practices, and withstanding the efforts which are now made to undermine the purity of her doctrine and simplicity of her worship. . . .”

The Church Association published a number of books and tracts in support of its objectives. This article is Church Association Tract 321.

Those wishing to learn more about the Church Association and its objectives will find a number of articles on the Church Society website.

5 comments:

  1. Are you willing to accept any variation in worship style? Or just because it was associated with Medieval doctrine at one time it has to be rejected no matter what. I find your perspective distressing . It is though you advocate a church should almost look like a living room and worship should be plain as possible because if were not carefully we will end believing in Roman Catholic ideas. It is rubbish. Thats what catechism classes and continuing education in churches is for because some people are lazy doesn't mean we should dumb or strip what we do and believe.

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  2. George,

    I do believe that there must be consistency between how we worship and what we believe. Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformers recognized this. What we do in worship does convey a message. If we do not give thought to what messge that it is conveying, we risk conveying a message that conflicts with the message that we are preaching from the pulpit or teaching in the classroom.

    Little children at a very early age come to recognize the discrepancies between what their parents and other adults say and what they do. Those attending our worship services will also take note of the discrepencies between how we worship and what is preached and taught.

    You may wish dismiss the idea that folks can pick up the wrong beliefs from the way we worship but the fact is that they do. Cranmer and the English Reformers understood that too.

    You have given me an idea for an article. Thanks.

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  3. From Richard:

    I understand your points about the medieval Church. But do you ever factor Eastern Orthodox views on doctrine, vestments, Eucharist, etc. Are they not very similar to Roman Catholic? Are they also wrong?

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  4. Richard,

    To answer your question, I am posting the following passages from J. I. Packer's book Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs:

    The Christian principle of biblical authority means, on the one hand, that God purposes to direct the belief and behavior of his people through the revealed truth set forth in Holy Scripture; on the other hand it means that all our ideas about God should be measured, tested, and where necessary corrected and enlarged, by reference to biblical teaching. Authority as such is the right, claim, fitness, and by extension power, to control. Authority in Christianity belongs to God the Creator, who made us to know, love, and serve him, and his way of exercising his authority over us is by means of the truth and wisdom of his written Word. As from the human standpoint each biblical book was written to induce more consistent and wholehearted service of God, so from the divine standpoint the entire Bible has this purpose. And since the Father has now given the Son executive authority to rule the cosmos on his behalf (Matt. 28:18), Scripture now functions precisely as the instrument of Christ’s lordship over his followers. All Scripture is like Christ’s letters to the seven churches (Rev. 2-3) in this regard.

    Where is God’s authoritative truth to be found today? Three answers are given, and each appeals to the Bible in its own way.

    The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches find God’s truth, as they believe, in the interpretations of Scripture that are embodied in their own tradition and consensus. They view the Bible as God-given truth, but they insist that the church must interpret it and is infallible when it does so.

    By contrast, individuals labeled liberal, radical, modernist, or subjectivist find God’s truth in the thoughts, impressions, judgments, theories and speculations that Scripture triggers in their own minds. While dismissing the New Testament concept of the inspiration of Scripture, and not treating their Bible as totally trustworthy or as embodying absolute and authoritative transcripts of the mind of God, they are confident that the Spirit leads them to pick and choose in such a way that wisdom from God results.

    Historic Protestantism, however, finds God’s truth in the teaching of the canonical Scriptures as such. It receives these Scriptures as inspired (i.e., God-breathed, 2 Tim. 3:16), inerrant (i.e., totally true in all they affirm), sufficient (i.e., telling us all that God wills to tell us and all that we need to know for salvation and eternal life), and clear (i.e., straightforward and self-interpreting on all matters of importance).

    The first two positions treat human judgments on the Bible as decisive for truth and wisdom; the third, while valuing the church’s heritage of conviction and appreciating the demand for coherence that rational thinking involves, systematically submits all human thoughts to Scripture, which it takes seriously as canon. Canon means a rule or standard. The first two positions refer to Scripture as the canon, but they fail to take it with full seriousness as a functioning rule for faith and life. Thus they do not in practice fully accept its authority, and their Christian profession, however sincere, is thereby flawed.
    (pp. 16-17)

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  5. Classical Anglicanism takes the same position as historic Protestantism.

    Article VI states:

    Scriptures containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

    Article XIX states:

    As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have erred: so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.

    Article XX states:

    The Church hath power to decree rites or ceremonies and authority in controversies of faith; and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God's word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ: yet, as it ought not to decree anything against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for necessity of salvation.

    Article XXI states:

    And when they [i.e. general councils] be gathered together, forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and word of God, they may err and sometime have erred, even in things pertaining to God.

    Article XXXIV states:

    It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one or utterly alike; for at all times they have been diverse, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word….

    Article XXXIV further states:

    Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish ceremonies or rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying.

    Clause 4 of The Jerusalem Declaration states:

    We uphold the Thirty-Nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God's word and as authoritative for Anglicans today

    It affirms the classical Anglican position.

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